


strain

by d3vmn



Category: Devilman (Anime & Manga)
Genre: M/M, alternate hospital scene, just enough flirty banter and teasing to forget the pain for 3.5 seconds
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-25
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-03-23 21:20:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,241
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13796583
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/d3vmn/pseuds/d3vmn
Summary: “Hello there,” Ryo greets, voice pleasant and inviting.Akira fumbles; his brain is in overdrive but his body remains frozen in place. It takes some time and willpower until Akira successfully drags his eyes away from Ryo just for long enough to mumble, “You seem well.”or, another take on the hospital scene that is entirely self-indulgent.





	strain

Akira enters the hospital like a completely different person, new shirt unbuttoned and his feet impatient get to their destination. He catches a glimpse of his reflection on the shiny surface of the hospital reception counter but his gaze doesn’t linger. He uses the stairs, despite having many floors to climb, hoping that the walk would ease some of his uncertainty.

At the floor of his destination, he hears a clamor of chirpy female voices and finds them gathering in front of a particular door. His gut clenches and he breaks into a sprint, the women scattering to let him through.

“Ryo,” he calls as soon as pushes past the doors.

Ryo’s eyes meet his and he smiles like he’s been waiting to do so ever since he opened his eyes and found that Akira wasn’t there. His blonde hair is bathed in a crown of light that spills down his pale, bare shoulders and his chest only to stop at a bandage covering the aftermath of the night Akira would rather forget.

The nurse covers Ryo with a robe.

“Hello there,” Ryo greets, voice pleasant and inviting.

Akira fumbles; his brain is in overdrive but his body remains frozen in place. It takes some time and willpower until Akira successfully drags his eyes away from Ryo just for long enough to mumble, “You seem well.”

“I can’t believe how fast I’ve recovered,” Ryo claims, fastening his robes so that the majority of his bandaged stomach remains away from sight. “Even the doctors are surprised.”

“Well, you were hurt pretty bad.” Akira grins, remembering all the times Ryo would do something completely reckless and get out of it with his head intact. Like a cat with infinite lives, purring in the face of danger.

Ryo shoos the nurse away and she, with a pout, directs a remark at Akira on her way out: “Visitor, do not put any strain on him.”

“Of course.”

Ryo sits on the bed, hand clutching at his wound as though he’s trying to contain the ache. “Never mind me. How are you?”

Before answering, Akira shuts the doors and only a muffled sigh of disappointment from the gathered women manages to slip through one last time. These doe-eyed women have not seen Ryo wielding a gun. They have not seen him pull the trigger with a grin on his face. They have not seen his lashes splattered with blood and his eyes wide open underneath. They have not seen his grace and the fearlessness when taunting demons in a place of sin. They have no right to make eyes at this soft-spoken, blue-eyed, vulnerable Ryo when they know nothing of him.

“I feel well,” Akira answers. “Although, every once in a while, I feel an urge for violence.”

This seems to please Ryo, if the widening of his eyes and baring of his teeth is any indication. He says, “Help me up. I want some fresh air.”

Akira offers his hand without hesitation, propping Ryo up on his shoulder and moving them to the balcony. He mourns the fading of warmth when Ryo lets go and leans on the balcony fence instead.

“You know,” Akira says. “If I hadn’t become a Devilman, I wouldn’t have been able to fight… or to save my mother.”

“Your existence as a Devilman is crucial to humanity’s battle,” Ryo offers with a sideways glance. “And to evolution.”

Akira tilts his head.

“What I mean is, humanity’s true natural enemy is upon us and you are our best weapon,” Ryo explains.

“A weapon?”

Ryo pushes himself away from the fence and faces Akira. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” Akira’s reply is instant. He stands up straight as though Ryo’s sudden change of pose threatens him.

“Jump on the fence.”

It’s a simple request that sounds much like an order from somebody three ranks above him and Akira does as he’s asked. He perches in perfect balance and glances down only once, feeling nothing but indifference at the drop.

He doesn’t get to do much else. In the next moment, Ryo is pushing him off and all Akira does is spread his arms—that's when Ryo grabs his shirt, effectively untucking it from his pants and allowing for a swift breeze to tickle his stomach. Akira uses his feet to stay in place and to help Ryo hold him in place more easily.

“Are you scared?” Ryo inquires as the calm of his blue eyes is set firmly on Akira’s flushed face.

Akira doesn’t look down, though he feels the tingle of excitement at the back of his neck. He answers: “No.”

Ryo grins, like he did that night when he was holding a shotgun and like Akira is the same kind of danger in his hands. He says, “See. It’s a sign of evolution. You know your new body can survive this. It’s what makes you—“ he inhales sharply. “—stronger than the rest.”

“Ryo… your wound.”

“I know.”

Ryo gives a strong pull and, mostly due to Akira putting in a lot of his own effort, gets him back up. Akira slides down with his back to the concrete wall of the fence and Ryo falls right into his lap, knowingly or not,  with his hand clutching his wound and breathing just a tad labored.

“Are you okay?” Akira asks and puts his hand over Ryo’s, trying to examine if his wound has opened.

Ryo winces but when he removes his hand, there’s no blood. “Yes. Almost.”

Akira laughs, bobbing his head back so hard it hits the wall but he barely registers the sting. “You know, the nurse will yell at me for putting you under strain.”

“I’m the one who has you con _strained_  though.”

As though possessed, Akira becomes aware of Ryo’s inner thighs pressing into his and the warmth that starts in his belly and then spreads.

“I see,” Akira acknowledges, his lips dry.

“Do you mind?” Ryo asks, tone of his voice entirely innocent.

“Are you comfortable?”

 Ryo tilts his head so some of his blonde fringe obscures his eyes. “Quite.”

“Then I don’t mind.”

Akira doesn’t dare touch Ryo, no matter how much he’s longing to put his hands on his thighs and please them into submission. It would be so easy to push his fingers into Ryo’s robe and dismantle it, to drag his fingers across his warm skin, teasing, painting goose-bumps in their wake. He would like to see what Ryo has to say, mouth to mouth, if it's anything at all besides sweet sounds Akira has only dared imagine before  forgetting them in shame.

He doesn’t know where these thoughts are coming from but Ryo is showing no intention of getting up and unless he does—       

The doors of the room open and the nurse from before walks in. As soon as she sees the two of them, one atop another, she freezes. Her mouth hangs open but no words come out.  

Akira lets out the longest sigh. “I’m not putting him under any kind of strain,” he assures, lifting his arms in the air as though surrendering.

“I can attest to that,” Ryo says in a tone that claims otherwise. Akira stops himself from jumping off the building right there and then.  

The nurse blushes, batting her eyelashes and bewildered beyond words. She retreats and peeks behind the doors. In a quiet voice, she says: “I’ll come back later.”

She doesn’t.

**Author's Note:**

> took those few moments of tension and exploited them to ease the Pain™  
> pardon all and any mistakes, this was written very much in one impulsive moment but i hope you enjoy nonetheless
> 
> articunoir.tumblr.com


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